After graduating from Bowler University, the last place Cam Ruiz ever expected to find himself is his hometown. A bad job as a bouncer and worry over his mom’s health make living in Paradise anything but. There’s only one thing that can make his return any harder—running into the only girl he’s ever loved.

Tate Ellison made a mistake when she was eighteen, one that cost her the best thing she’s ever had. She’s always hoped the regret of losing Cam would fade over time. Too bad it’s only grown. She took comfort in the fact she’d never have to face him again, so his presence in Paradise throws her for a loop.

The pull between them is instant and when the truth of what happened years ago tumbles out, they share a mind-blowing kiss...which leads to more. But the past has a way of repeating itself. When all the cards are on the table, Cam and Tate must decide what they are willing to do to make it last.

The Bowler University trilogy started so well but then fizzled. Though, to be fair, I have a GR friend who likes books two and three the best, so I guess it all depends what you like out of a ship. Personally, I’m into banter and spark, so I’m all about book one. If you’re into sentiment, books two and three will be more your speed.

Make It Last improved on Make It Right in my opinion. Though the former lovers reuniting trope is by no means my favorite, Erickson does it pretty well. I kinda shipped Cam and Tate, though you can tell how passionate I am about that. At the start, due to misunderstandings, they’re not getting along and, me being me, I liked that bit the best, but it did get me a bit invested. Also, maybe because I barely knew Cam and didn’t know Tate at all, their characterization didn’t seem different than in the other books. There’s also more of an excuse for sentiment when they have that long history and sick parents (Tate’s dad has cancer and Cam’s mom has fibromyalgia).

Aside from the romance being the slightest bit dull (for me because where’s the banter), I felt like the ending didn’t allow Cam and Tate to work through all of their issues. They have the traditional late-in-the-book-nigh-breakup fight, and they do not agree on an issue on which they need to agree. Both have good reasons but the issue could spell the end of them as a couple. Everything gets conveniently resolved by an outside force, which just makes me wonder what will become of them when something like that comes up again.

Finally, and this is a small point really, but the Utope video game plot line was, to borrow a phrase from my boyfriend, very lame. Utope is a Sims-like video game where Cam and Tate have built their ideal future, and they often fight, apologize, and sex within the game. It’s SO WEIRD. I mean, whatever, because it’s not that important, but holy shit did I not care about any of that.

So yeah, if you’re a shipper of banter, which tbh if you’re here on this blog you probably are, I’d recommend Make It Count super highly and these with many reservations.

October "Toby" Daye, a changeling who is half human and half fae, has been an outsider from birth. After getting burned by both sides of her heritage, Toby has denied the Faerie world, retreating to a "normal" life. Unfortunately for her, the Faerie world has other ideas...

The murder of Countess Evening Winterrose pulls Toby back into the fae world. Unable to resist Evening's dying curse, which binds her to investigate, Toby must resume her former position as knight errant and renew old alliances. As she steps back into fae society, dealing with a cast of characters not entirely good or evil, she realizes that more than her own life will be forfeited if she cannot find Evening's killer.

Ever since I read Feedand fell in love (okay, and then went to look up Mira Grant on Twitter only to discover that she’s Seanan McGuire and has a billion other books), I’ve wanted to read McGuire’s whole backlist. This will obviously take me years, but I’m getting started on October Daye. Rosemary and Rue gets to a fairly slow start, but there’s a lot of potential here for a strong paranormal/UF series.

Toby’s pretty boss. Partially because she’s one of the weakest magically in her whole world and spends the whole book getting beaten up and used by the more powerful but constantly maintains a sense of her own strength and lines she won’t let anyone cross. She makes some bad choices along the way, but she’s always doing the best that she can. The writing doesn’t pop with voice, and I wish there was a bit more dialog, because the voice does come through when Toby starts backtalking others.

The plot’s very slow to get rolling. There’s the dramatic instigating death that Toby’s been tasked to solve, but after that she drifts around and follows faerie protocol and asking for help. The last hundredish pages went really quickly though, as Toby begins to get clues. Basically, this book felt pretty world building heavy, and I’m hopeful that will fade in the next book. The world’s pretty cool, though. I’m not the biggest fae fan, but McGuire’s are deliciously dark and creepy.

The romance in book one squicked me out mostly. The guy Toby’s with in this one is problematic, which isn’t a spoiler really because before you even meet him, you’re told what a creep he is. However, the text very much knows how problematic and fucked up that relationship is, though it doesn’t make it anymore comfortable to read. On the plus side, I’m a huge fan of the ship I smell on the horizon. TEAM TYBALT.

Rosemary and Rue didn’t live up to my dreams of something as amazing as Feed, but it’s a decent start and I hope for amazing things to come.